Adventurer Conqueror King System
by: Alexander Macris
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea
by: Jeffrey Talanian
Barrowmaze
by: Greg Gillespie
Cavemaster RPG
by: Jeff Dee
DCC RPG
by: Joseph Goodman
With the exception of Cavemaster (which I never heard of before) I own the list, and these are all strong choices. Four out of five are game systems and the fifth is probably the strongest megadungeon released in 2012 (yes, I'm talking about you Barrowmaze.
You can read the original thread at the NTRPGCon forums here.
Hmm, I just bought ACKS barely a week ago. I'm really interested in the political and economic rules. A lot of games really don't have anything comparable so you either have to splice in stuff from elsewhere or just hand-wave it.
ReplyDeleteWow, good group. I have to admit I haven't heard of Cavemaster. Gotta go check it out now.
ReplyDelete"All strong choices" is exactly right. I own all five and have used all but Cavemaster in play in at least a couple of sessions. Given my experiences, it would be very, very difficult for me to pick a winner amongst them because they've all proven themselves to be excellent.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, if I had a vote, I think I'd give the nod to Jeffrey Talanian and AS&SH. Like ACKS and DCC, it presents an extremely well polished ruleset. Like Barrowmaze, it presents a compelling setting. AS&SH is also the only one to be in the same ballpark as DCC when it comes to art and presentation. And ACKS comes in a box set!
I'm really glad to be attending North Texas RPG Con again this year. It's a wonderful convention, but this is probably the first time that I'll be genuinely anticipating the awarding of the Three Castles.
Here's a Cavemaster review: http://trollandflame.blogspot.com/2012/06/cavemaster-play-review.html
ReplyDeleteAnd an interview I did at geeknative.com: http://www.geeknative.com/32807/interview-with-cavemasters-jeff-dee/
-Jeff Dee
UNIgames